The Vincentians Serve the Poor in Kenya, East Africa

When you go to church this Sunday, so will 15-year-old Sylvia. Just as you do, she will ask for God's help. Wearing a traditional bright kaftan, she will attend Holy Cross Parish in Thigio, Kenya on Sunday, and on Monday she will go to school. She will study math and history, her favorite subjects. She wants to be a teacher some day.

And it is a miracle that she can think of “some day,” for it is the work of the Vincentian priests and brothers in Kenya that have helped her to realize that some day is possible. “The Vincentians have given me hope in life and I thank God for them,” says Sylvia.

Making Some Day Possible

The Congregation of the Mission was founded in 1625 with the unique mission to evangelize to the poor. St. Vincent de Paul, patron saint of the poor, encouraged his followers to "Say little; do much." Living together in community and carrying on his tradition, Vincentians are doing just that. They preach parish missions throughout the world, paying special attention to the needs of young people, those on the margins of society, and especially poor people in whose faces Christ is visible.

The work of the Vincentians knows no boundaries. They are strong, called, and determined. People are in need and they respond: as priests, as teachers, as friends.

In Kenya, their service is vital to the children living among the 1,000,000 homeless in Kibera, the second largest slum in the world.

Strong, Called, Determined in Kenya

Living in mud huts and “houses” made of scrap tin, with no legal protections, many people in Kibera are offering their prayers up to God. Perhaps their prayers are similar to yours. Mothers are praying to send their children to good schools and dream of a better future for them. Fathers are praying to find good work, feed their families, and keep them safe.

Vincentian priests and brothers serving in Kenya are responding to the prayers of the local people and to God's call to feed the hungry, welcome strangers, and care for the ill. They are truly "fulfilling the needs of the least of these" (Matthew 25:35-36).

Milkah is responsible, honest, and hard working. Brother Jim Donlevy gave steady work to her at DePaul Woodworking, a vocational skills program that helps men and women become certified in the carpentry trade. Earning about $4 a day, Milkah is able to pay rent, send her boys, Jack and George to school, feed and clothe them.

DePaul Woodworking is one of several community-building projects that are, in essence, teaching a man to fish – and a woman to build, a boy to study, and a girl to sew.

At Saint Vincent's Nursery School, opened in May 2005 in the heart of the Kibera slum, ninety-three children are learning to read, write, draw, paint, and are learning that they are children of God. The school would like to serve more children.

The Cold Water Charity, a joint project between the Vincentian Community and Daughters of Charity, gives out hundreds of liters of water every day. People come on foot, pushing wheelbarrows, and on bicycles, balancing large jugs, to get this basic necessity of life. They cannot live without it.

Responding to the Call

The poor in Kenya – some of the poorest people in the world, struggling for their most basic needs – are looking to our Vincentian priests and brothers not only for work, clean water, shelter and food, but also for hope and light. A strong, called, and determined, Vincentian priest or brother may be the only source of hope and light these people meet, offering God's love.

In 1999, The DePaul Centre Formation House opened to form future Vincentian priests and brothers. Nine East Africans have been ordained Vincentian priests, and it is home to 45 seminarians, who dedicate countless hours of service to the poor in Kenya. They visit the sick, educating them about HIV/AIDS; serve at youth outreach programs; and bring God’s message to those in areas not served by a parish.

Your support will ensure that these strong, called, and determined Vincentian priests and brothers continue to serve the least of these for years to come.

To Love and Serve Our Lord

By providing material assistance, Vincentian priests and brothers are improving lives; by responding to spiritual needs, they are helping to save them when they offer God’s gift of eternal salvation. This is a gift that God offers to all, whether they live in a rural community, a suburb, or in an impoverished land.

Just as you offer your prayers to God, so will 20-year-old Charity, a student at Eldoret Polytechnic in Kenya who receives support from Father George Busieka. And Frances will pray that the Congregation of the Mission continues to help her with high school tuition.

Sylvia, Milkah, Frances, Charity and the hundreds of others at St. Vincent de Paul Parish, Kamulu and Holy Cross Parish, Thigio will hear Vincentians speak the words "Go in peace, to love and serve the Lord." As Christians, we are called in this same way. This is an opportunity to serve the Lord. Here is what your generosity can mean:

$11.50 – provides food for one month for a poor family in rural Kenya;
$15.00 – can help provide medicine for someone suffering from malaria;
$48.00 – training, books, and supplies for four woodworking students for one year;
$115.00 – supports two seminarians serving weekly at St. Vincent’s in the Kibera slum.

We are determined to fulfill the mission given us by our founder, St. Vincent de Paul, a man devoted to loving and caring for the poor because he saw the face of Christ in each of them. Thank you for sharing in our mission, for doing much to improve the lives of some of the poorest people in the world.

May you experience the joy that comes from serving your brothers and sisters in Christ.

Kenya Housing

The Kibera slum in Nairobi, East Africa, is the 2nd largest slum in the world.

DePaul Woodworking

The Vincentians started De Paul Woodworking Training Program back in 2003. It is a two year training program in the trade of carpentry. At the end of the two years the trainees are asked to take the national trade test. When they pass the test they receive a certificate recognizing them as a qualified carpenter. The test is administered by the Department of Industrial Training.

Three new trainees begin every year and currently have a total of 6 young men in the Woodworking Program. Over the years about 20 young men have finished their training and all but one has passed the trade test. The three taking the test this year are expected to do very well. There is also another part of the program which is the production shop. In the production shop we employ 5 men (who were the first trainees to finish in the years of 2004 and 2005). They make furniture requested and purchased by other religious organizations. We also employ two young women on a part time basis who do sewing and upholstery work. The profit from the production shop helps give steady employment to these men as well as help keep the cost of the training down.

One of the young men who recently started his training is Zachery Onyango. Zachery comes from the Lake Victoria area of Kenya and came to Nairobi after failing to find any work in his home area. He finished his primary schooling in 2005 but was unable to continue in a secondary school because of lack of payment for school fees. He has three brothers and three sisters (two of the sisters passed away at a very early age). His mom still lives back in their homeland. Zachery is the only one in the family with a job and thus tries to support other members of his family. Zachery was referred to the Vincentians by the Benedictine Missionary Sisters.

Zachery lives on the other side of Nairobi in a slum called “Mathare”. He is paid 300 Kenyan shillings per day as his salary (about $4). Zachery rides his bike everyday to and from work so he can save a little money. Even his fellow workers were surprised to learn this because they know how difficult and dangerous it can be traveling through the city at those times. He leaves home at daybreak every morning to arrive to work before 8:00 am. He has been a very hard worker.

The Novitiate

Damascus House is located in Nairobi, Kenya on the grounds of DePaul Centre; it is a program mandated for men who have been received as members of the Congregation of the Mission of the Western Province USA in Eastern Africa. In 2011-12 it looks like we will welcome six Kenyans into the Novitiate Program. The program is a year long and has a variety of facets or dimensions of formation or development: Spiritual, Apostolic, Community, Human and Intellectual. This year in 2010-11 seven Kenyans, one Ugandan and one American entered the Damascus House program. All eight of these men will have just completed their philosophical studies. They range in age from 24-32. The program begins every year on June 24 and lasts for one year.

Kenya Novitiate The Novitiate program at Damascus House is vital to our efforts to expand the Vincentian mission in East Africa. These new members have embraced our commitment to diocesan seminary formation and acknowledge it as a pivotal contribution that the Congregation of the Mission is making to the Kenyan Church. These future Vincentian priests from Kenya and will make significant contributions by working in parishes among the very poor, by organizing parish missions, through outreach programs for the poor, and by coordinating the initial and ongoing formation of our own Vincentians as well as the diocesan clergy, especially in Kenya. The training at Damascus House prepares them to commit themselves to these works of evangelization.

An essential part of their year in the Novitiate program is spent in service to the poor. Every Tuesday these men travel to our Vincentian Parish, Holy Cross in Thigio. It is an isolated area about an hour’s drive from Nairobi. They dedicate the entire day to visiting the homebound sick in the area. They bring these struggling families food and milk. Many of the people they visit are HIV/AIDS victims. 20% of the population of Thigio is infected. They not only help with the care of these victims, but they also educate them and their families about the disease. They inform the people of the various programs and treatments available at the nearby clinic at Holy Cross Parish in Thigio, which is run by the Daughters of Charity. There is also a ten bed hospice for the dying and critically ill. The novices are now visiting those patients on their weekly apostolate in Thigio. Their home visits have been a great assistance to help stave off further infection. This education through personal visits gives hope not only to those who suffer but also to the other family members. The Vincentian novices reach out to these victims, who live on the brink of starvation, by bringing them basic supplies such as flour, rice and salt. The men also work at a nearby slum called Bangladesh where they meet regularly with a group of old men to share the word of God with them and also help them to receive medical help at the clinic the Daughters of Charity manage at a nearby parish. Finally, some the men work at St. Vincent’s Nursery school in the nearby Kibera slum.

On Sundays the men work with the small Christian communities in the Makuru Kwa Njenga slum which is an hour’s bus ride from Damascus House. They also work with the youth and in supportive outreach projects for the poor in that area. Their language skills of English and Kiswahili, as well as other tribal languages, have proven to be instrumental in their effectiveness.

Tangaza College, the Catholic University of Eastern Africa, has over 1000 students from 100 different religious communities. We have Vincentian seminarians attending Tangaza for their theology education, as well as Vincentian priests serving as teachers.

Join Us in the Kenya Mission

Supporting the mission will help the Vincentains meet the spiritual and material needs of the poor in Kenya for many years to come. We are grateful for whatever gift you can give. Donations are wired directly to our priests and brothers in Kenya, so you have our promise it will be put directly to work for those we serve.

For more information on making a contribution, please contact:

Congregation of the Mission Western Province
Ms. Teresa R. Manna
Director of Development
13663 Rider Trail North
Earth City, MO 63045-1512
314-344-1184
314-344-2989 Fax
Contact the Director of Development